I just realized: both TAR all star series had winners that did not win any previous legs.

That must be a real curse! If there's a next all-star. NO 1 rule is to NOT win a leg previously in the whole race... and that you'll win the last one!

There's a TAR Asia curse too, those who won the second-to-the-last-leg didn't win at all in the TARA finale... It also happened here thru Gallory hehe... Anyway, Kisha and Jen finished this business with justice,

I just realized: both TAR all star series had winners that did not win any previous legs.

That must be a real curse! If there's a next all-star. NO 1 rule is to NOT win a leg previously in the whole race... and that you'll win the last one!

There's a TAR Asia curse too, those who won the second-to-the-last-leg didn't win at all in the TARA finale... It also happened here thru Gallory hehe... Anyway, Kisha and Jen finished this business with justice,

Those who won the FIRST leg didn't win the last leg. Gary and Mallory continues with the curse.

I think only Rob and Brennan and a few other teams (less than 3) won the first leg and gone on to win the game.

I just realized: both TAR all star series had winners that did not win any previous legs.

That must be a real curse! If there's a next all-star. NO 1 rule is to NOT win a leg previously in the whole race... and that you'll win the last one!

There's a TAR Asia curse too, those who won the second-to-the-last-leg didn't win at all in the TARA finale... It also happened here thru Gallory hehe... Anyway, Kisha and Jen finished this business with justice,

Those who won the FIRST leg didn't win the last leg. Gary and Mallory continues with the curse.

I think only Rob and Brennan and a few other teams (less than 3) won the first leg and gone on to win the game.

Well a team should win more than 5 legs to break the curse, like Meghan and Cheyne, and Nick and Starr, who all won in the first leg...

Well, I have to say I LOVED the Brazil Leg. I loved all the cultural tasks and stuff. The Miami leg was kinda meh to me, considering it was the final leg. I didn't see a Photo Finish, nor a task that involved remembering this that and the other.

I truly think that if Gallory didn't have the bad taxi driver, they would have came out on top, I mean, they performed the tasks pretty fast.

Those who won the FIRST leg didn't win the last leg. Gary and Mallory continues with the curse.

I think only Rob and Brennan and a few other teams (less than 3) won the first leg and gone on to win the game.

The teams to win the first leg as well as the finale were: Rob and Brennan, Tyler and James, Nick and Starr, and Meghan and Cheyne (of course )

That may seem to be to many exceptions for it to be a real curse but when you consider that each of those teams had far more top three finishes than the rest of their competitors it indicates that they were able to accomplish this feat either because they were exceptionally strong performers or had a cast of below average teams to compete against. I find it more interesting that in the Express Pass era in which teams are pushed to perform strong from the start, the team that won the EP has seemed to burn out in the finale. Perhaps Victor Jih's strategy about lying low at first then competing hard at the end is the best way to win. Many winners have used this strategy successfully. The reasoning is that all that matters in the first eleven legs is to not be eliminated. Only one leg must be won.

Hmm, not many teams who won the penultimate leg went on to win the final leg as well. The only exceptions are Rob and Brennan, BJ and Tyler, Nick and Starr, Tammy and Victor, and Meghan and Cheyne.

I'll be really honest and say I didn't see this result coming. I speculated that the Globetrotters were the most likely team to win the race, followed by Zev and Justin. I thought that Kisha and Jen would not win 'cos it feels like they didn't get much edit, and thought that Gary and Mallory would finish in fourth place. So this was a finale of pleasant surprises indeed!

It was cool that the last slot for the Final 3 was left to the Globetrotters and Zev and Justin. They were the two teams I didn't really care for out of the remaining four teams, so I wasn't too sad to see either of them go. At the end it was Zev and Justin who left, but they have loads to be proud of nonetheless. Finishing in 9th place on their season, I'm sure many were upset that they got a chance to return. But they've proved that they were a worthy selection, as they won 4 legs this season, the most out of every team. They made a tremendous improvement in placing, and ran a good race. Kudos to them!

Gary and Mallory... I really wanted them to win, but I'm really happy they made the finale. I thought that they were doomed to 4th place for some reason, but they made it! I was really annoyed by their cab driver initially, but this is the race, sometimes they have good luck, sometimes they don't. I guess it wasn't their lucky day in the final leg. Then again, the Globetrotters and Kisha and Jen are fierce competitors as well, so it was a tough fight all the way to the end. To Gary saying that they'd done the race twice and would do it again... Yes to seeing them again! Lol! And wow, they won 3 legs this season, the second highest!

Globetrotters did a great job, it was a close fight between them and Kisha and Jen, with the lead alternating a number of times. I disliked them on their season, but they were really much nicer this season. They still weren't my favourites, but I thought that they raced with class this time round. I was kinda sure that they'd win, but they didn't and I'm (secretly) happy lol.

Kisha and Jen, wow, wow, wow! Who would have thought! The team who missed the Final 3 on their season just because of a washroom break... They've more than redeemed themselves by winning this season! Based on their win, I'm beginning to think if it's an All-Stars thing. Eric and Danielle never won a leg on their season prior to the final leg, but never finished below 6th place and were consistent throughout. Same thing for Kisha and Jen! Really interesting. But I'm so happy for them, 'cos I really didn't think that they'd win. Indeed, it's the last leg that matters most. Kisha and Jen weren't one of my top teams, but I really liked them this season so I'm glad that they won. It's a great ending to this season!

I can't believe the race is over just like that! To be honest, I didn't think this season was as good as last season. I think the cast was great, but I found the race kinda boring for some reason. But well, we have some great winners, so I'm happy. And isn't it cool that it took 18 seasons for 2 female teams to win consecutively. Lol! Yay for Kisha and Jen!!!

I can't wait for the next season now! Although it's a long wait... Well, goodbye TAR for now!

One thing I like to think about is the Kisha and Jen are competitors. Their unfinished business was not winning the race.Gary and Mallory really wanted the experience. They weren't ultra competitive. Their unfinished business was not FINISHING the race

Now that I think about it, did CBS plan for the finale to be two hours so that JenKisha's win coincided with Mothers' Day?

It was most likely planned like that so Survivor could have its Finale the next Sunday.

Yes, I am sure Kandace is right. CBS works backwards from the end of the May sweeps period and schedules the Survivor finale on the final Sunday. That leaves one Sunday prior for the Amazing Race finale. For AR18 this meant based on when it started (dictated to a large extent by editing time needed) that one Sunday would need a 2 hour double episode telecast.